![The Top Reasons MLB Players Would Choose to Sign with Atlanta Besides Money and Rosters The Top Reasons MLB Players Would Choose to Sign with Atlanta Besides Money and Rosters](https://i2.wp.com/cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2023/11/16141823/truist-park-braves-scaled.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1)
Check out the 2024 MLB Player Poll with honest opinions on the game’s most overrated player, season length and more.
You’ll sometimes hear MLB players say “It wasn’t about the money” when they sign a free agent contract, even if it’s with the highest bidder. In some cases, that might be true, but there are many reasons why players sign with the teams they choose, including money and taxes.
But what would happen with a more equal playing field?
In an anonymous player survey conducted this spring, we asked a group of more than 100 players which team they would sign with if contracts, state taxes and rosters were not a factor.
Eighty-six players responded and the Atlanta Braves were their first choice, with 12.7 percent of the vote.
“I would sign with the Braves, knowing what I know,” one player said. “If I didn’t know better, I’d probably try to play a year for the Red Sox or the Yankees. Just do it. Just to experience that. “Probably the Red Sox.”
The Red Sox received the second most votes (8), with the appeal of Fenway Park being one of the factors.
“It’s basically a museum,” said one player.
The Dodgers and Rangers received seven votes, followed by the Yankees and Cubs with six votes each.
A team’s stadium was a common motif among players, including those who chose the Braves.
“I love that stadium,” one player said of Truist Park, the team’s home since 2017.
With 81 games in one location each year, it’s important that players like where they play and where they spend much of their time.
The city outside the stadium was the driving force for at least one player with his eyes set on the West Coast.
“San Diego is a beautiful place to play,” said one of the five players who chose the Padres as their preference.
The convenience of having spring training in the same city as the regular season forced at least one player to choose the Diamondbacks.
Beyond it all, though, the appeal of home is hard to beat, with players from Southern California, Miami, Seattle and even Cincinnati naming their hometown team.
The call to return home is potentially another reason the players chose the Braves. In the 2023 MLB Draft, Florida had the most high school players selected (17), followed by California (14), Texas (12) and Georgia (11). Florida, California and Texas have at least two major league teams and multiple large population centers, while Georgia only has the Braves and the Atlanta metro area is home to the majority of the state’s population.
The Braves are also the team in the South, where much of the best college baseball is played. While Texas, California and Florida may have split alliances, the Braves are the de facto home team in much of Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina. That’s why at least one player chose Atlanta in our poll.
“Just because I was a Braves fan growing up,” he said.
(Photo: Brett Davis / USA Today)
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